


A True Conté

by journeycat



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Extramarital Affairs, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-17
Updated: 2011-06-17
Packaged: 2018-03-02 07:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2804216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/journeycat/pseuds/journeycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lianokami questions who her best friend, Keely of Mindelan, is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A True Conté

_Who is she to me?_

Lianokami often asked that question growing up, before she was conscious of the skeletons in her family's wardrobes and before she realized that such questions were offensive. Keely didn't seem to mind, though; Liano thought that maybe she didn't know who she was, either.

_Just be kind to her_ , Grandmother Thayet had sighed. She had said no more, but her eyes seemed brighter than usual and she looked so sad that Liano had vowed to never bring Kee up to her again. And after that, she realized that Kee and Thayet were never in the same room as each other.

_She's the daughter of a harlot_ , Aunt Lianne said disdainfully, her cold face full of so much contempt that Liano was taken aback. It made her mad, too, because Aunt Lianne didn't know Kee and she obviously didn't know Lady Kel, either, if she was going to call her a harlot—whatever that was. She just knew it was something bad, and Lady Kel was one of the truest people Liano knew.

_She is my sister_ , Father said frankly. That made Kee her aunt, but Kee was three years her junior and Liano could hardly call her Aunt. He and Mama were the few that treated Kee not just kindly, but affectionately. Whatever it was that barred Kee from being able to firmly assimilate into Liano's family did not affect her parents.

It was Alanna the Lioness who knelt before her and poked her hard in the chest. _What is she to you?_ she repeated. _No one else can answer that except you, Liano. Do you think of her as your best friend? Then that's who she is, and nothing less. Forget whatever you learn about her parentage, because the past is in the past. She's still Keely._

Liano asked others the same question—who exactly is Keely?—but Alanna's answer was the one that stuck. And later as adolescents, when she realized that Kee looked far more like a Conté than Liano herself, with her Yamani mother and half-K'miri father, she tried not to hold it against her.


End file.
